Starlight and Hotel Rooms
by Acetoorion
Summary: Quistis and Squall's reactions to the life they have suddenly been thrown into.


Right, this is my first Final Fantasy fic, and thanks must go to Chocodragon for editing and encouragement! Thank you Dragon!  
This is set in Deling Hotel, Just after Irvine joins the group and before you get the Brothers GF.  
  
Starlight and Hotel Rooms  
By Acetoorion  
  
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, I mean, who am I compared to Rinoa and Selphie? Anyway, we had to split up, and Squall and Zell would just rub Irvine up the wrong way, and then it would be us waiting for them, rather than the other way around. That in itself is a point, if I hadn't of been there to tell Zell and Squall where the city was, they would never have got there, they'd still be wandering the plains, fighting with anything that came their way. I'm being stupid, why on earth should I care what that prancing peacock of a marksman thinks of me? And anyway, Rinoa is a princess among her people and strong, even if she is unaccustomed to the rigours of working with SeeD. And I suppose Selphie does have her charms, if slightly unique. Why the hell am I angry? Why do I feel so neglected? I have my own damn fan club! What am I complaining about? But they honour Quistis the teacher, not Quistis the person. I don't care. I shouldn't care…but I do.  
  
It's my own fault you know, it's that cold exterior that I display, the detached teacher that has no feelings, is close to no one. Ex-teacher, that's what I miss, now I'm just another mercenary, chucked off my pedestal, and this was the icing on the cake, the final humiliation. I wish I could shut out my feelings, but they are there. I am only a woman. And even though I do not care for him one bit, I care for myself. Sitting on this hotel windowsill, alone, it feels as though only the stars want my company, their cold existence twinned with my own.  
  
Another day has gone  
I'm still all alone  
How could this be  
You're not here with me  
You never said goodbye  
Someone tell me why  
Did you have to go  
And leave my world so cold  
  
My thoughts are jumbled. It's only been a couple of weeks, and yet I have changed so much. I never cared for anyone, save myself. But now, something has changed, I do not want to be the one they knew as silent, wrapped up in himself. I will not have it. It's funny, I never used to think like this, something has changed, and it is not by my doing alone. I have learnt so much from the people I have met, those who can laugh in the face of danger and suffering. I used to think that I was the strong one, never showing my emotions, never showing when I was angry, never showing I cared. But not now, now I realise that I was just hiding. Quistis saw that, she understood. I wonder why.  
  
Of course, I know why. She does it every day, I suppose I was so wrapped up in myself that I never noticed: she is very similar to me. When she laughs at me, she is also laughing at herself. Looking out of the window I am sitting in, I can see the light from her room, and she is sitting on the window seat, just like me. It's her that has made me realise this, made me see that I can be more than I am. She is alone in that room, and I can see pearly tears run down her face, reflecting in the starlight. I don't think to wonder why, I just know in my heart that I must act on what she has taught me; show her what she has achieved. Hesitantly, I rise.  
  
Just the other night  
I thought I heard you cry  
Asking me to come  
And hold you in my arms  
I can hear your prayers  
Your burdens I will bear  
But first I need your hand  
Then forever can begin  
  
The door creaked and a soft breeze crept round the old hotel room, making my face cold. And there he was, he hadn't knocked, although I would not expect that of him. When he came to me, he wiped away tears that I did not know had fallen. And this was not like him; he has changed over the weeks, we all have. I hugged my knees closer to my chest, and he sat down in the window with me. We were silent for some time, until,  
"Quistis...thank you, for showing me what I can be."  
Again, silence.  
"Thank you, Squall, for showing me that I am still needed."  
We sat in silence through the night, the stars our only companion.  
  
So you are not alone  
For I am here with you  
Though you're far away  
I am here to stay  
For you are not alone  
For I am here with you  
Though we're far apart  
You're always in my heart... 


End file.
